Teacher rescues several students from flooded day care center

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    ELKTON, MD (WBAL) — A teacher in Cecil County was forced to carry her students to dry land when their daycare flooded as Tropical Storm Isaias moved through Maryland.

The day care teacher turned into rescuer in a matter of minutes after Isaias’ impact brought wind gusts and heavy rains.

Torrential rain pounding on Elkton, filling the Little Disciples Child Care Center with floodwater, forced Brittany Austin to take action, hauling about 25 students out of the building to dry land.

Among them, her 6-year-old niece, Brooklyn.

“And in the process of that, our parking lot flooded. So, for me to get the children to the parents, who had to park as soon as they came in the parking lot, I had to sludge my way through a good 6 feet of water to get them out to the parents,” Austin said.

“When I pulled in, she had two other kids on her arm and a book bag on her back,” said Kandice Henderson, Brooklyn’s mother.

The day care consists of two buildings. It was actually the back building that got flooded. Cleanup efforts are underway there. Most of the parking lot has now dried, but some parts of Elkton weren’t so lucky.

SkyTeam 11 was up above later in the day, as people in Elkton had to drive through high waters. Roads were left submerged, with only the hoods of cars peeking through the surface.

“My normal route of getting home was flooded, so I had to detour and that was flooded,” Austin said.

All due to a storm that lasted for mere moments, now leaving recovery efforts in this town with a long road ahead.

But where concern was for many at this school is now replaced with relief, as no one was hurt.

A heap of gratitude for a daycare teacher who did what was necessary.

“Not only are they trying to do virtual learning for these children, they’re also carrying them through floodwaters, literally,” Henderson said.

“I knew there was no way these little 3-year-olds would’ve been able to walk through that water. So, my only option was to pick them up,” Austin said.

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